Tree Frog Forestry News

Daily Archives: April 26, 2016

Business & Politics

West Fraser Announces First Quarter Results

Marketwired

April 25, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: Canada

VANCOUVER, BC– – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. reported earnings of $42 million or $0.51 basic earnings per share on sales of $1,077 million in the first quarter of 2016. These results compare with previous periods as shown in the table below. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted earnings and Adjusted basic EPS as described in this News Release reflect the adjustments described in the tables referred to in the section titled “Non-IFRS Measures” of our 2016 first quarter Management’s Discussion & Analysis. … In the quarter our lumber operations generated operating earnings of $63 million (Q4-15 – $17 million) and Adjusted EBITDA of $100 million (Q4-15 – $55 million). Higher prices and shipments combined with a weaker Canadian dollar contributed to the improved results.

Why Christy Clark Shouldn’t Talk to Kids about Trees

By Vanessa Scott

The Tyee

April 26, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: Canada, Canada West

When I read Premier Christy Clark’s simplistic — OK, dumbfounding — comments about how she talks to children about the forest industry, I was really offended. Then it struck me that Clark was just another urban office-dweller with no real understanding of the industry, or forest communities. And no understanding that our relationship with forests, and the rest of the world around us, is complex and multidimensional, not foolishly simplistic. In case you missed it, here’s Clark’s grasp of forestry and environmental issues. In a speech to an industry conference, she said whenever she visited schools, no matter where she went, there was always one child who said, “We should stop cutting down trees.”

Lakeland wounds still unhealed four years later

My Prince George Now

April 23, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: Canada, Canada West

Four years ago today, a sawdust explosion at Lakeland Mills in Prince George levelled the facility, killing Glen Roche, Alan Little and injuring 24 others. An Inquest by the BC Coroner’s Service ruled the deaths of Roche and Little accidental last year, and delivered the same ruling at a separate inquest into the Babine Forest Products explosion. Documents released to MY PG NOW through a Freedom of Information request show the Coroner’s Service spent a little over $450,000 on the two inquests. But even with the public inquest into the accident completed, the physical, mental, emotional and legal wounds from that night are far from healed, with multiple cases before the courts.

Project manager talks about local company’s extensive work

The Western Star

April 26, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: Canada East, Canada

With all the talk of the need to diversify the economy, it’s sometimes easy to miss the kind of interesting things that are happening. One Corner Brook-based business that has been quietly creating work, not to mention a name for itself on national and international stages, is Resource Innovations. The company, formed in 2007, is a consulting firm that provides forest and environmental management and planning services that promote healthy forest ecosystems, sustainability and environmental stewardship. …Internationally, Resource Innovations has been working with clients on natural resource management projects in Caribbean countries Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Jamaica and Barbados.

Call for resignation over cozying with forest industry

Timmins Press

April 25, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: Canada East, Canada

IROQUOIS FALLS – The former mayor of Iroquois Falls is calling for the president of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA), Mike Doody, to resign from his position. James Brown argues that under Doody’s leadership, NEOMA has been doing too much cozying up to the forest industry and not giving the public enough information to hold them accountable for the decisions they are making. The association, said Brown, is behaving more like an oligarchy than an organization made up elected officials. “Something smells behind the scenes on all of this. All I’m saying is that we need to put on the brakes,” said Brown. “I just think that it’s a shame that we pay taxes and when we ask questions that we don’t get answers.”

Lumber company investing $3.5M in Nelson County, creating 30 jobs

Will produce hardwood for export to Asia

The Lane Report

April 25, 2016

Category: Business & Politics

Region: US East, United States

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Legend Lumber Lee Corp. plans to open in a shuttered hardwood lumber concentration yard in Boston, investing nearly $3.5 million and creating at least 30 full-time positions to produce hardwood for export to Asia. “Legend Lumber founder Jack Li saw demand for a product and took steps to find the best location to meet that demand,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “I’m proud to say that process led him to Kentucky. Here he found raw materials and willing partners who helped turn opportunity into reality. In addition to creating jobs and economic impact in Nelson County, Legend Lumber will add to the total value of Kentucky exports. We look forward to working with Mr. Li and his company as it grows.”

The company created to hold the remaining assets of Sino-Forest Corp. has negotiated the sale of the last of the failed company’s holdings for $242-million (U.S.), signalling there was significant remaining value within the company’s disputed forestry assets. Emerald Plantation Holdings Ltd., which was created to manage the company’s assets after it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013, said it has entered into a conditional offer to sell subsidiary Emerald Plantation Group Ltd. to New Plantation Ltd., a private forestry company. Emerald Plantation Holdings, based in Hong Kong, is controlled by former bondholders of Sino-Forest, who took control of the company’s assets under a court-supervised reorganization.

Wood, Paper & Green Building

Multi-storey wood buildings taking root in Toronto

By Ian Harvey

Daily Commercial News

April 26, 2016

Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Region: Canada East, Canada

Toronto is catching up to the rest of Ontario as two six-storey wood-framed condos are set to rise in the city. The Cabin at 45 Dovercourt is a six-storey wood structure consisting of 25 units with two floors in each. The units range in size from 895 square feet to 2,638 square feet. It is designed to be in the form of cubes stacked on top of each other. While there are between 10 to 15 mid-rise wood structures planned or being built across Ontario, Toronto is late to the party, said Steve Street of Wood WORKS! Ontario. The Ontario Building Code was changed in January 2015 to allow wood-framed structures to go up to six storeys. David Moses, of Moses Structural Engineers, who is working on both projects in Toronto, says it’s only a matter time before there will be pressure to extend the height of wood structures to at least double the current limit.

National Wood Flooring Association Responsible Procurement Program Accepted Into NAHB National Green Building Standard

Hardwood Floors Magazine

April 25, 2016

Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Region: United States

The National Wood Flooring Association’s Responsible Procurement Program (RPP) was accepted into the National Association of Home Builders’ 2015 ICC 700 National Green Building Standard. Wood-based products that are RPP-certified are eligible to receive points toward a National Green Building Standard Certified Home. RPP is listed in the Renewable Materials section of the Resource Efficiency chapter alongside the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification programs, among others. NGBS is the only residential green building rating system approved by ANSI as an American National Standard. “Today’s discerning consumer expects higher levels of transparency in their major purchases,” said John Forbes, NWFA director of manufacturer services, in a statement. “NWFA is proud to partner with NGBS to help provide products that fill that demand.”

Two Sides Celebrates Earth Day by Busting Myths About How Paper Is Made

Printing Impressions

April 22, 2016

Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Region: United States

…Designed to bust myths about paper production, and about other forest products, the new infographic reveals that in North America less than 36% of the annual timber harvest is directly used for paper and paperboard. In fact, most trees are harvested to make lumber and other solid wood products essential for construction, such as building homes and furniture. …“North American forests can provide recreational, environmental and economic benefits. They are a very valuable renewable resource that can be managed responsibly to make hundreds of products with sustainable qualities, such as being highly recyclable,” says Phil Riebel, president of Two Sides North America. “Much of the raw material used in papermaking comes from recovered paper and residuals from the lumber industry — but wood is essential because paper can only be recycled five to seven times before the fibers break down and become unusable.”

The tallest skyscraper in Stockholm will be made entirely out of wood

By Chris Weller

Tech Insider

April 25, 2016

Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building

Region: International

The new building, “Trätoppen,” or “tree top,” will sit inside in the middle of an existing car park. …The building will reach 436 feet high and include apartments, shopping, restaurants, and private terraces. …Berensson also says the facade of the building will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the city below because of the wood’s ability to store carbon in its walls. Once completed, it will be both dizzying and impressive.

Forestry

FSC to engage on New Forest Management Standard

Forest Stewardship Council

April 26, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: Canada

Bonn (Germany) and Montreal (Canada) – The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) will implement a new forest management standard in Canada, only after considerable stakeholder engagement ensures this new standard reflects the opinions of all stakeholders, as far as possible. This is according to Kim Carstensen, Director General of FSC, who was responding to concerns from environmental, social and economic groups that their needs would be superseded by others in the development of the new standard. Stakeholders were also concerned about the implementation of Motion 65, passed at FSC’s last international members’ meeting, which called for the protection of the world’s remaining untouched forests.

Colorado State Forest Service Going After Tree-Killing Pest

Associated Press in CBS Denver

April 25, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

BOULDER, Colo. — The Colorado State Forest Service is trying to determine the best way to stop a tree killer called the emerald ash borer. The service said Monday that it will be working with the city and county of Boulder to place more than 120 traps this year. The test will help in researching the most effective trapping methods for the nonnative pest and in detecting whether it is present outside the city of Boulder, the only place it has been detected so far in Colorado. Drivers this spring may notice green or purple traps in trees. Dan West, a forest service entomologist, says borers, which have killed tens of millions of ash trees in the United States, can be present for up to four years before trees show visible decline.

Letter: The real timber industry numbers

Mr Graham’s response to The Boat Company is so wrong on so many levels. If he thinks that the U.S. Forest Service that loses 98 cents on every dollar spent on his behalf is not a timber subsidy, then perhaps we should agree it is just an outrageous unmerited gift. Notwithstanding the federal gift, Mr. Graham’s industry will now be getting a handout from the state — where we get to lose only 95 cents on the dollar. So the state forester is correct. Alaska can indeed do it a little better. We are in a $4.1 billion fiscal hole that is getting deeper, and that is not to say anything about the non-renewable old-growth being exported as logs that support milling jobs out of state.

Still looking for truce in timber wars

Spotted owl was a ‘poster species’ in bitter feud

Mail Tribune

April 24, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

…“They’re still going at it,” Webb says of the warring factions. Eight lawsuits — four from each side — have challenged the NWFP, but all have been denied. After years of ongoing litigation and protest, agencies have turned to thinning forests as a middle ground between loggers and environmentalists. Saving the forest hasn’t saved the spotted owl. Despite the protection of critical owl habitat, “we’ve never seen an increase in (spotted owl) population, or even seen it stay stable,” says Webb. Both Norman and Webb point to the unexpected invasion of the barred owl. Bigger and more aggressive than the spotted owl, this East Coast transplant now outnumbers its smaller cousin 5 to 1. Kupillas says the spotted owl is threatened by an even deadlier foe — wildfire. In 2002, the Biscuit fire blazed through the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, burning 500,000 acres of critical habitat.

Resource management plan opposition seeks more favorable balance

The World

April 23, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

COOS BAY — Nick Smith isn’t taking any joy from bashing the BLM’s Resource Management Plan for Western Oregon, but what’s being proposed just doesn’t add up. And it’s not just the executive director of Healthy Forest, Healthy Communities who feels this way. From logging interests, conservationists to county government, very few seem happy with the plan. “It’s a bottom-down plan from the folks in Washington, D.C., and it is essentially a box that some folks back east want to check before their jobs turn over in January,” Smith said. “Essentially the pace and speed of this plan is so they can adopt a management plan before the President leaves office.” Believing the RMP violates the O&C Act, Smith said it hurts the counties and communities that are most vulnerable and most dominated by land and federal ownership.

Reader View: A differing view of the burning of forests

By Jan Boyer

Sante Fe New Mexican

April 23, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

Point: One hundred years of fire suppression have made our forests unhealthy. Counterpoint: The fire suppression policy was adopted in 1935 and abandoned in 1972. Modern firefighting equipment was introduced after World War II. Effective fire suppression was practiced for less than 30 years. Point: Fire suppression was a failed policy. Counterpoint: The 1940s through 1970s were the only decades in modern history when less than 300,000 acres of national forests burned yearly. Fire suppression was a successful policy.

Lawsuits only thing Forest Service understands

Letter by Floyd Wood

Ravallie Republic

April 23, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

Well the logging between Lost Horse and Roaring Lion Creek is in the works – 2,300 acres, besides some logging in the Coyote Coulee area. Julie King said the objection period ended April 16, 2016. There have been 80 comments come in so far. It is sad to say these comments do not mean much after the appeal process was killed. Our congressmen and Senator have been pushing to stop lawsuits. This cutting will do nothing to stop fire because if a fire should start it will go best in private lands. To add to this problem, 5 million acres was included in the 2014 Farm Bill for cutting and thinning, with our good Gov. Steve Bullock leading the pack.

Sue ’em; but what do we do in the meantime?

The World

April 23, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: United States, US West

After meeting this week with some local timber representatives, it’s pretty clear that the Bureau of Land Management’s recently unveiled Resource Management Plan for Western Oregon creates a devastating outlook for South Coast timber production. In their attempt to satisfy multiple mandates for use of the forest, the federal planners may have crafted a plan that satisfies the letter of the law as they interpret it. But as with any plan that tries to satisfy multiple desires, it’s ultimately a compromise. And in any compromise, there are winners and losers. In this compromise, South Coast timber loses big. The plan shifts more available logging land to other counties and out of our region because — just our luck — South Coast forests are the haven for multiple animal species now protected under law. Seems everyone, including Mother Nature, wants South Coast timberlands.

Why these Mainers must pick between a chemical pesticide and a natural poison

By Seth Koenig

Bangor Daily News

April 25, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: US East, United States

With the Back-to-the-Land ethos still prevalent in environmentally friendly Maine, the idea of signing a paper letting the government spray pesticides over your property has got to be cringe-worthy for some. But the alternative — allowing invasive browntail moths to spread, devour the spring foliage and potentially blanket the area with toxic hairs — would be worse, Cumberland Town Manager William Shane suggests. …The idea is to keep the creatures from making their way farther inland, and time is of the essence. If the leaves on the trees aren’t treated with pesticides before the browntail moth caterpillars emerge from their cocoons and start eating — which is expected to happen within the next month or so — it’ll be too late.

Aliens in the woods: Invasive species pose number one threat to Michigan forests

Second Wave

April 22, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: US East, United States

Michigan has 19.3 million acres of forest — that’s 53 percent of the state’s land, putting it at number 10 in the nation in forested acreage. And those forests are valuable — a Michigan State University study put a $17.8 billion annual price tag just on the wood harvested from all those trees. That doesn’t account for millions more brought into the state by tourists on their way to hunt, fish, hike or bike in those forests. Yet the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has only three pairs of eyes to spot alien invasion threatening the state’s treasured woodlands. …These foresters spend their days flying above the canopy in single-prop planes, looking for sick and dead trees. On the ground, they have tools ranging from specially designed root cutters to racket balls covered in velcro, all designed to sleuth out enemies infiltrating Michigan’s woodlands.

Reforesting New Zealand could start in the red zone

Avon-Otakaro Network

Scoop Independent News

April 26, 2016

Category: Forestry

Region: International

Christchurch’s Avon River red zone could kick-start an ambitious national goal of creating 1.3 million hectares of new forest to improve health, wealth, and wellbeing, say Christchurch red zone campaigners. Avon-Otakaro Network, Greening the Red Zone, and Avon-Otakaro Park congratulate business and environmental lobby group Pure Advantage on its ground-breaking discussion paper, Our Forest Future, released last week. “This concept is so timely for Christchurch as we begin to decide the future of the red zone,” says Avon-Otakaro Network co-chair, Evan Smith. “It shows very clearly how Christchurch can be an environmental and economic leader in New Zealand, by providing effective solutions to environmental challenges facing our city.”